Angry mourners mass in riot-hit Myanmar city

MANDALAY, July 4, 2014 (AFP) - Thousands of people, some wielding sticks, flooded Myanmar's second-largest city Friday as tensions spiked during the funeral of a victim of Buddhist-Muslim clashes that have raised fears of spreading violence.

Mandalay was on edge as darkness fell with police blocking access to some Muslim neighbourhoods in a tightening of security for the central Myanmar city's second night under curfew, as anger grew following unrest that left one Buddhist and one Muslim dead.

It was the latest in a string of deadly religious clashes that have plagued the former junta-run nation for two years, prompting warnings that the country's fragile transition to democracy could be imperilled.

Earlier Friday, scores of motorcycles took part in a procession carrying the coffin of the 36-year-old Buddhist man through the heart of the city.

While Mandalay has a sizeable Muslim minority and also plays host to a group of nationalist Buddhist monks accused of stoking tension, it has not suffered religious unrest on this scale in recent years.

Police sources told AFP they were boosting security measures as a precaution in other cities, including the commercial hub Yangon which has a diverse population of religious and ethnic minorities.

Social media users were unable to access Facebook for the second straight evening, amid speculation that Myanmar had blocked the site to curb the spread of inflammatory comment online.

No one from the authorities was able to comment on the issue and the official spokesman, who posts his official updates via Facebook, did not respond to requests for information.

The violence on Tuesday and Wednesday saw mobs wielding airguns, swords, rocks and other weapons go on a rampage through the central metropolis.

The wife of the Buddhist victim, who was attacked on Wednesday evening, told AFP that she could not understand why the father of her three children was targeted.

"They killed him brutally," she said as she prepared for the funeral.

A friend of the dead man, who was with him at the time of the attack, showed AFP injuries on his hand that he said were slash marks from a "sword" used by a group of Muslims to kill his friend.

"I will hold a grudge for the rest of my life. If anything happens like this again I will not hesitate to be involved," said Htwe.

A funeral for the dead Muslim man, a popular local bicycle shop owner, was held Thursday, hours after he was killed while on his way to attend early morning prayers.

The unrest broke out Tuesday after an accusation of a rape of a Buddhist woman by two Muslim men from a local tea shop was spread on the Internet, prompting a crowd of hundreds to gather near the business, hurling stones and damaging property.

"The violence happened because of hate speech and misinformation spread online," an official from the president's office, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

Authorities imposed the curfew on Thursday to quell the riots, which left 14 people injured. Police arrested nine people in connection with the unrest.

Fears of more riots -

Buddhist-Muslim clashes have left at least 250 people dead and tens of thousands displaced since fighting first broke out in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in 2012.

Most of the victims have been Muslim and clashes have often erupted as a result of rumours or individual criminal acts.

Prominent hardline cleric Wirathu, who is based in Mandalay, posted a link to online allegations against the tea shop owners on his Facebook page just hours before the latest unrest flared up.

But in an interview with AFP he dismissed suggestions that his online posts were inflammatory.

"Muslim organisations are the ones responsible for this and are more able to stop it from happening again," he said, accusing the community of shielding the two men from the tea shop.

Kari Hasan, the head of downtown Shaeshaung mosque, said the Muslim community had become a target of hate speech and had been let down by the authorities.

"If something happens they suddenly say it is because of Islam. With the new government we expected good things but we only get bad things," he said.

Myanmar's President Thein Sein, who has seen his regime's reformist drive overshadowed by the sectarian violence, said the country could only maintain stability if people live "harmoniously" in his monthly radio address aired this week.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed the authorities for the worsening violence.

"The authorities should properly handle those people who are spreading rumours. Without rule of law, more riots will come," she told Radio Free Asia, according to remarks posted on the broadcaster's website.